Neurosurgery Month

[Soon2BeIntern]

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Hello,

I will be beginning my ENT residency in July, and my first month is Neurosurgery. I have no experience whatsoever in Neurosurgery and was looking for some advice on what to expect (ie. what I should be expected to know, what books to look at prior and during my rotation, how I could be of any help or use, etc). Just looking for help with the basics as I expect to be overwhelmed anyway.

Thanks.

 

[forbin]

As a current ENT resident, I feel your pain. Expect very long hours, writing 30-40 progress notes a day, doing a bunch of simple floor procedures like pulling drains and changing trachs, putting in orders, and dictating tons of discharge summaries. All of this will be done while being hammer-paged about Mr. X's 10/10 pain and Ms. Y's constipation. Most patients will be in one of 2 categories: badness in the head (usually bleeding or tumor related) or elective back surgery pts who will take enough narcotics to kill several elephants. You will not need to make any major decisions on your own- the key to being an intern, especially the first month or two is being able to write down everything your chief wants on AM rounds and then getting that list done by the end of the day. If you can do that and you don't complain, you will get along well with the neurosurg residents, which is probably the most important thing to accomplish during your month, as you will be working with them a fair amount as an ENT resident.